12 interior decor tips from Ikea

Tiny homes can look airy and bigger if everything is in its place (leaving space for he occasional hat on the floor and stray sock on the sofa). Easier said than done. Yet there are some fun ways you could create more storage and make your stored things look pretty.

Here are some ideas from Ikea. Some are old ideas with a really fresh interpretation, some are really cool, like the fabric sandwich headboard. So read on!

Are you tired of clear boxes and hat boxes and carboard boxes in your bedroom? Make your eyes rest on soft surfaces only by storing off-seasons clothes or things less used, such as beach towels, blankets, costumes etc. in tagged pillow sleeves.

Have a piece of furniture that’s really pretty but just can’t fit another shade of brown in the room? Paint it a rich, dark colour, like these dark green side tables from Ikea. Or just paint a part of it, like just the top or just the legs.

Make your shelves look pretty, by thinking of how they will look before you buy your organising supplies. Make a list of the items you want to store and imagine some ways in which you could store them in a way that will be pleasing to the eye, but also functional (so you don’t have to spend half an hour rearranging items if you need to take something out).

I really likes this idea for a dorm room that Ikea presented and you could do this in your home too. If you have open shelves or an open wardrobe in your bedroom, hide them behind colourful, luxurious curtains in your favourite fabric.

By far my favourite idea was the pillow sandwich backrest. The designer created a neat square of colourful fabric, folded it in half, and stuffed it with pillows. He made sure the back rest staus on the wall, he created loops in the fabric that hang neatly in hooks above the bed. So simple and so fun to make!

This is not a new idea, but I like how ikea always finds a pretext for making things look pretty. So they installed more doorknobs than needed on the outside of the closet to keep a few ready-made outfits on hangers for busy mornings.

Can’t decide on which colour to paint a wall? Paint the light on first, then start adding the darker colour from bottom-up and leave the areas in which the colours meet unfinished

Create an artsy entryway by hanging rope from the ceiling and hooking in a few hangers

Design your bedroom starting with the colour of your bedspread. It’s the same as starting with a theme, but it will be just easier to find what you need. For example, here, in the budding bedroom feature, Ikea starts with the floral bedspread with just three colours: yellow, green and white, then adds as accents yellow side tables, transparent vases of yellow flowers over the bed, a pastel green floor and some other off-white accents.